5 Transfer Portal Targets Indiana Basketball Must Land This Spring

The college basketball transfer portal opens on April 7, but work and preparation towards securing commitments have been underway for weeks.

The Indiana Hoosiers had a disappointing year one under Darian DeVries, and the coaching staff knows they need major upgrades in the portal in order to break a growing NCAA Tournament drought. Who are five players that stand out as priority targets for the Hoosiers?

Jalen Haralson, Notre Dame

Jalen Haralson played for three seasons at Fishers High School before finishing his high school career at La Lumiere, establishing himself as one of the top recruits in the country. He nearly chose IU before committing to Notre Dame.

Haralson averaged 16.2 points per game last season, while adding four rebounds and 2.6 assists.

He was one of the top freshmen in the country and did so while shouldering a large load of responsibility after the injury to point guard Markus Burton.

He's not a great outside shooter, but he does everything else at a high-level and should make a further jump as a sophomore with better weapons around him.

He's a unique player and an in-state talent - the Hoosiers should do whatever they can to bring him to Bloomington.

Join the transfer portal discussion on the Hoosier Huddle forums

Markus Burton, Notre Dame

Indiana has not had a truly top-notch point guard since Yogi Ferrell was electrifying the crowd in Assembly Hall.

There have been moments for other players, but the past decade has been mostly lowlights for the position.

Markus Burton, another Indiana native who played at Notre Dame, could offer a solution to that problem. He is joining Jalen Haralson in the portal and would be a potential two-year answer to IU's point guard woes. Burton was injured after only ten games played this season and could get a medical redshirt season to give him two years of eligibility. He's a dynamic scorer and incredibly quick and the Irish were 7-3 with wins over Missouri and TCU before he went down. Landing Burton or someone similar seems like a necessity for Indiana this portal cycle.

J.P. Estrella, Tennessee (if available)

While Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey played hard and with varying degrees of success, the Hoosiers were not big enough on the interior to compete in the Big Ten.

Darian DeVries has acknowledged as much, and finding good frontcourt players is imperative. It will not be easy, and the big man market is already proving to be incredibly pricy but IU is going to have to narrow in on a target and likely overpay.

Tennessee center J.P. Estrella is rumored to be entering the portal when it opens and IU assistant Rod Clark recruited him to Knoxville. Estrella has two years of eligibility remaining, making him a particularly enticing target.

Sam Orme, Belmont, and Bishop Boswell, Tennessee

If Indiana can land the three primary targets of point guard, Jalen Haralson as a playmaking wing, and a quality big man, it will want to fill the remainder of the roster with quality role players.

Haralson will need targets to kick the ball out to and rack up assists. Players like Carmel native and former Belmont Bruin Sam Orme could be valuable in a stretch 4 role. If teams refuse to help off of him on the perimeter,

Haralson will have one-on-one drives to the bucket for layups or lobs to the center.

Another archetype that would be needed is a quality wing defender. Ideally, this player would be capable of knocking down perimeter shots. Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell, also a Rod Clark recruit, makes a lot of sense, and he is rumored to be eyeing the portal.

Indiana basketball cannot solve a decade-plus of frustration in one portal cycle but landing these five players (or ones of similar quality) would go a long way towards reestablishing some excitement in Bloomington for the 2026-2027 season and beyond.